Tabitha Solomon

Last updated

Tabitha Solomon
Tabitha Solomon.jpg
Tabitha Solomon, c. 1926. [1]
Born15 November 1901
Calcutta
Died30 July 1976
Calcutta
NationalityIndian
CitizenshipIndian
Education Calcutta Dental College and Hospital
Occupation Dentist
Medical career
ProfessionDentist
Institutions

Tabitha Solomon (born 1901) was one of the first women to qualify as a dentist in India, graduating from the Calcutta Dental College and Hospital in 1928. After graduation she started a dental clinic in the Chittarnjan Seva Sadan Hospital and worked at the Dufferin Hospital. A member of the Baghdadi Jewish community, she was closely involved in Jewish community causes.

Contents

Early life and education

Tabitha Solomon was born in 1901 [2] into the Baghdadi Jewish expatriate community in British India. [3] She was one of the first women to qualify as a dentist in India, [4] [5] graduating from the Calcutta Dental College and Hospital (later the Dr R. Ahmed Dental College) with her Licentiate in Dental Science on 30 March 1928, [6] [7] five years after the only known earlier female candidate Fatima Ali Jinnah, who qualified in 1923 from the same College, [4] and sixteen years before Vimla Sood, who qualified in dentistry from De'Montmorency College of Dentistry in Lahore in 1944. [4]

Career

Solomon worked with Rafiuddin Ahmed on the Calcutta Dental Journal and started a dental clinic in the Chittarnjan Seva Sadan Hospital. She worked at the Dufferin Hospital in an honorary capacity. [8]

She was closely involved in Jewish causes, serving on the Women's International Zionist Organization (WIZO) and welfare committees, the Calcutta Jewish Association and the multicultural Calcutta Women's Committee. [8] [9]

Personal life

Tabitha Solomon had two sons and a daughter, Eric, Charles and Hebe. Avi is Charles' older son born in 1956. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Dental Association</span>

The British Dental Association (BDA) is a registered trade union for dentists in the United Kingdom.

A number of professional degrees in dentistry are offered by dental schools in various countries around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baghdadi Jews</span> Jewish ethnic group from the Middle East

The former communities of Jewish migrants and their descendants from Baghdad and elsewhere in the Middle East are traditionally called Baghdadi Jews or Iraqi Jews. They settled primarily in the ports and along the trade routes around the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fatima Jinnah</span> Pakistani stateswoman, biographer and dental surgeon (1893-1967)

Fatima Jinnah was a Pakistani politician and stateswoman. She was the younger sister of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder and the first governor-general of Pakistan. She was the Leader of the Opposition of Pakistan from 1960 until her death in 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dental education throughout the world</span>

Dentistry throughout the world is practiced differently, and training in dentistry varies as well.

Fatima Jinnah Dental College, commonly referred to by the acronym FJDC, is the oldest dental school in Karachi and one of the oldest in Pakistan. Established in 1992, it is run and managed by a duly registered Fatima Jinnah Dental College & Hospital Trust. It offers students a four-year undergraduate program leading to a degree of Bachelor of Dental Sciences (BDS) in addition to sponsoring graduate students to post-graduate qualification of M.S., MPhil and Ph.D.

Fatima Jinnah Medical University, previously known as Balak Ram Medical College, is a public medical university located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.

Jinnah Medical and Dental College was established in 1998 in Karachi, Sindh Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women in dentistry</span> The involvement of women in dentistry

There is a long history of women in dentistry. Women are depicted as assistant dentists in the middle ages. Prior to the 19th century, dentistry was largely not yet a clearly defined and regulated profession with formal educational requirements. Individual female dentists are known from the 18th century. When the profession was regulated in the 19th century, it took a while before women achieved the formal education and permission to engage in dentistry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dr. R. Ahmed Dental College and Hospital</span> Government dental college in India

The Dr. R. Ahmed Dental College and Hospital is a Government dental college located in Sealdah, Kolkata, in the state of West Bengal, India. It is affiliated to the West Bengal University of Health Sciences and is recognized by Dental Council of India. It teaches Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) and Master of Dental Surgery (MDS) courses in various specialties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FMH College of Medicine and Dentistry</span> Dental school in Pakistan

FMH College of Medicine and Dentistry, established in 2001, is a private college of medicine and dentistry located in Shadman, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. The college is part of the Fatima Memorial System, accredited by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council and registered with the World Health Organization, Avicenna Directories and International Medical Education Directory. It is affiliated with the University of Health Sciences, Lahore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Jews in Kolkata</span>

The history of the Jews in Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta, in India, began in the late eighteenth century when adventurous Baghdadi Jewish merchants originally from Aleppo and Baghdad chose to establish themselves permanently in the emerging capital of the British Raj. The community they founded became the hub of the Judeo-Arabic-speaking Baghdadi Jewish trading diaspora in Asia.

Syed Baqar Askary fondly known as Dr. Askary is the Founder Trustee and CEO of Fatima Jinnah Dental College (FJDC), Karachi. Baqar Askary is a medical graduate of 1966, of Dow Medical College, Karachi Pakistan. Baqar Askary a senior medical practitioner and an educationist. FJDC founded in 1992 is a pioneer institution devoted to the teaching of dentistry, independently and not as a department of any medical college. The college is named "Fatima Jinnah Dental College" after Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah one of the pioneers of Pakistan and sister of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan.

Jael Silliman is an author, scholar, and women’s right activist. She currently works as a consultant on gender and development, women of color and reproductive rights, and gender and environment issues. She lives in New York City and Calcutta. She is widely held in libraries worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Elias Ezra</span>

Sir David Elias Ezra (1871-1947) was a prominent member of the Baghdadi Jewish community in Calcutta, India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elias David Ezra</span> Property owner in Calcutta, India

Elias David Joseph Ezra was a property owner in Calcutta, India. He was a member of the Baghdadi Jewish community of that city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rafiuddin Ahmed (dentist)</span> Indian dentist

Dr. Rafiuddin Ahmed was an Indian dentist, educator and later minister in the West Bengal cabinet, who founded the first dental college of India, Dr. R. Ahmed Dental College and Hospital, later named 'The Calcutta Dental College', where he remained its principal until 1950. He established the Indian Dental Journal in 1925, and played a key role in founding the Bengal Dentist Act in 1939. In 1946, he established The Bengal Dental Association which was then renamed as the Indian Dental Association. The Government of India awarded him the Padma Bhushan in 1964.Remembered as the father of modern dentistry in India, in 2016, the Indian Dental Association declared 24 December as National Dentist's Day in his honour.

Vimla Sood was the first woman to become a dentist in India. She graduated from the University of the Punjab in 1944.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rachel Sassoon Ezra</span> Indian philanthropist

Rachel Sassoon Ezra, known as Lady Ezra, was an Indian philanthropist and community leader, a member of the Sassoon family, and wife of banker David Elias Ezra.

References

  1. Tabitha. Recalling Jewish Calcutta: Memories of the Jewish community in Calcutta. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  2. "Famous People". aim2excel. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  3. The Too Few People. The Jew Community of Kolkata. Sudipto Sengupta, Probashi, 22 January 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 Fatima, Zareen. "Vimla Sood, Tabitha Solomon, Fatima Ali Jinnah......Who among them are the first female dentists of India?". HeritageTimes. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  5. Weil, Shalva. (Ed.) (2019). The Baghdadi Jews in India: Maintaining Communities, Negotiating Identities and Creating Super-Diversity. Abingdon: Routledge. p. 318. ISBN   978-0-429-53387-7.
  6. Tabitha Solomon's Dental Certification, Recalling Jewish Calcutta: Memories of the Jewish community in Calcutta. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  7. Singh, Priya et al. (Eds.) (2014). Beyond Strategies: Cultural Dynamics in Asian Connections. New Delhi: KW Publishers. ISBN   978-93-83649-04-4.
  8. 1 2 Tabitha Solomon. Recalling Jewish Calcutta: Memories of the Jewish community in Calcutta. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  9. "Tabitha Solomon: Dentist" in Gayathri Ponvannan (2019). Unstoppable: 75 Stories of Trailblazing Indian Women. Hachette India. ISBN   978-93-88322-01-0.
  10. Tabitha and Avi. Recalling Jewish Calcutta: Memories of the Jewish community in Calcutta. Retrieved 4 June 2020.